Nightmares
by BANNANNUZZ
Summary: Three years after TTP, I may make a prequel of sorts to explain the gap.
1. Chapter 1: Mrs Fowl

**A/N: This is my first story on this site. It's actually one I posted on a different site, but then it got deleted, so I'm retyping it here. This is three years after Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox and there may be a prequel of sorts to explain the time gap…if I get enough positive reviews…Enjoy.**

**P.S. The whole thing isn't in **_**italics**_**, so don't not read it just because of that!**

**Chapter 1: Mrs. Fowl**

_Holly woke sitting in a metallic chair at a matching desk. Actually, sitting would imply that she had a choice in the matter. In fact, the phrase 'tied to a chair' would do the situation more justice. She was in a large white room lit only by a few ceiling lights. The corners and walls of the room faded into darkness as only the lights over the cold, shining furniture were lit. She heard a faint clicking noise behind her; it grew louder as the footsteps approached._

"_Good morning, sleepy-head," a female voice said._

"_Opal," Holly snarled as she felt the pixies' presence behind her chair._

"_Yes, it's me- or 'us' I should say," There was no distinction between the present and past Opals' voices, but there didn't need to be. Holly knew neither of them could resist partaking in revenge._

"_What do you want?" Holly demanded, with more courage than she felt._

"_What do we want?" came the response, in a shriek. This was obviously the present Opal, who had been imprisoned by Artemis and Holly twice before. "How can you be so daft? After all we've been through, we don't even get the dignity of two seconds of your thought to consider what we want? What is wro-"_

"_Calm yourself, Opal," the past Opal said, interrupting herself. "We wouldn't want to give her a fright."_

"_But isn't that the point, my dear, innocent self?" the present Opal asked, unusually calm after being interrupted._

"_Speaking of points," Holly said, intervening before the two began a full blown conversation, "let's get to it so I don't have to listen to you two maniacs flapping your lips all day."_

"_You want points, Fowl? You got points," the present Opal snapped, circling the desk and pulling a large kitchen knife out of a drawer. "How about this point? Is this point good enough for you?"_

"_I know what you're thinking," the past Opal said, and Holly could hear her heels clicking as she paced the floor behind her prisoner. "A kitchen knife? How cliché. But this is not just any kitchen knife. We borrowed that blubbering demon Abbot's trick so that your magic won't work. This will kill you. And you will stay dead."_

"_You won't win. Artemis will stop you," Holly said, praying this wasn't a hollow threat. She had been stabbed with an enchanted blade before and didn't relish the thought of repeating the experience. Artemis had saved her then, but surely this was something even the great Artemis Fowl II couldn't prevent, wasn't it?_

"_That sorry Mud Man excuse of a husband you have?" Present Opal said, squealing with delight. "Please, even his beefed-up bodyguard couldn't save you now."_

"_Enough talking," Past Opal snapped, impatient for revenge on someone who, technically, hadn't even wronged her yet. "Let's get this over with so we can take care of the others."_

_The Opal from Holly's own time walked back to her side of the table, savoring the moment. She pressed the knife to Holly's neck._

"_Goodbye, Holly."_

Holly sat bolt upright in bed, panting and slightly sweaty, though the shirtless Artemis next to her could have caused this. He too sat up, concern weighing heavily on his features.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, when her breathing had slowed. "Just another nightmare."

"The same one? Again? You've been having that one for about a week," he said, after she nodded at the first two questions. He smiled at her suddenly, wonder in his eyes.

"What?" she asked, smiling back.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, twining his fingers together behind his head and laying back on his pillow, but he knew he was caught.

"Please, Arty, tell me," she said, turning her voice to velvet tones. Even though it wasn't the _mesmer_, her voice had the same effect. He zipped and locked his mouth with an imaginary key, then threw it away.

"Come on," she said, so close now that with every syllable her lips brushed his. "It'll be our little secret."

"That's not fair," he protested, though he knew he had been beaten. "I was just wondering how such a beautiful girl can be so paranoid about a pixie that she has dreams about her," he finished, a smile dancing on his lips.

"Hey," Holly said playfully. "What happened to the Mud Boy who used to say 'Holly, you're so amazing,' or 'I love you, Holly'?" Artemis laughed.

"He's on his honeymoon," he said with a smirk.

"Well I want him back," Holly said, closing the distance between their lips. Artemis broke the kiss first, but did not pull away her face. He spoke slowly and softly.

"I love you, Mrs. Holly Fowl." She smiled at the use of her name.

"I love you too, Artemis."


	2. Chapter 2: It's Personal

**A/N: Hey, sorry about the bold thing. I only put my author's note in bold but that wasn't bold on the site, so now I'll try to reverse it by putting this out of bold and the story in bold. Maybe it'll work. Thanks for reviewing!**

**P.S. It's not just romance. I hate writing romance, actually! I know the characters so well it feels awkward writing about them like that! Anyway, here's the story. Also, Holly's a Major now, so don't freak out when you read it.**

**Chapter 2: It's Personal**

"You're late," Foaly said, as Holly walked into the Ops Booth.

"Good morning to you, too," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"No time for chit-chat, major," Commander Kelp said as he entered the room. "We have a sprite to catch. Foaly?"

"Mark Leemis. Wanted for hijacking an LEP shuttle. He's holding the pilot and two officers hostage. I've tracked the shuttle to Australia, just outside a small town called Titjikala, in the Northern Territory." Foaly expertly tapped a few keys, throwing a map of Northern Australia on the main plasma screen. There was a red dot pulsing gently in a grey area to east of Hugh River labeled 'Titjikala Cemetery."

"A cemetery," Holly said, smirking. "How cheery. So what does he want?" Trouble smiled, slightly unnerving her and sending a shiver down her spine. Her ears twitched.

"Gold," he said, snickering. Holly sighed.

"Kidnapping fairies and asking for gold. Can't these guys come up with their own evil schemes?" she said, a broad smile on her own face now. "Still, I think this mission will be interesting. It's…personal." She turned to go, but the commander laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him

"Speaking of the Mud Man," he said, his voice firm but teasing at the same time, "we need of talk about him on your return."

"You know he won't be a Mud Man for long," she said, "his surgery is in two days."

"I know," he said, releasing her shoulder and watching the young elf disappear into the hallway. "Who doesn't?"


	3. Chapter 3: Mark Leemis

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reviewing, I love hearing what you think. I agree with you, Demetra. I didn't know what to call it, but I knew something was off. You hit the nail on the head: It's just not what they would say. But there are really only two chapters (so far, I haven't finished) that actually have romance in them, otherwise I think they are pretty much in character. Tell me if I'm wrong. :D**

**Chapter 3: Mark Leemis**

Holly flew low over the Indian Ocean, breathing deeply through her nose, inhaling the salty air. Occasionally she would let the tips of her boots skim the water, that is until Foaly yelled in her earpiece to stop ruining the new diagnostic technology in the shoes' toes.

"Why did you put _more_ health sensors on these suits? And why in the boots? I could break these things by running," she argued.

"Because," he said, sighing impatiently, "your pulse is strongest in you neck, wrists, and feet. Also, unlike the helmet, officers are less likely to lose or in your case, blow up, your boots," he finished, and Holly knew he was right.

"How much longer?" she asked, sighing.

"Two minutes," he answered. "Leemis took his hostages away from the shuttle, but since they were still wearing their boots, we were able to track them to a bend in the river. A Ritual Site, actually. Number 42. If you're low on magic, stick around. There's a full moon tonight." holly twisted her chin to the left, clicking her neck.

"I am a bit low," she said into her helmet mike, considering the option. "I think I will stay. Call Artemis for me and tell him I won't be home until tomorrow. I won't be there to see him go 'under the knife' as humans say. They're still using knives for surgery. Can you believe that?"

"Like cavemen," Foaly said, smiling. "I'll call him for you. We wouldn't want little Arty to get lonely, now would we?" he finished, snickering. "Okay, time for business. Set your Neutrino to stun; if this guy took out two officers and a pilot, we don't want to take any chances. Your target coming up in the cemetery about a mile north of you."

"Got it," Holly said, ignoring the "lonely Arty" comment for now. She landed behind a low hill, buzzing up her shield even though she knew Leemis couldn't see her from her position.

"The hostages should be lying in the middle of the cemetery. Run a thermal scan to find Mark," Foaly instructed. Holly flipped down her visor and used a thermal filter, finding three red heat signatures close together by an old crypt; the officers and pilot. On the other end of the cemetery, poorly hidden behind a tree, was a fourth heat source. Mark Leemis. Holly circled the tree silently until she was directly behind him before shoving him into the trunk. But there was something wrong. She looked down at the sprite while simultaneously handcuffing him.

_Unconscious? _she thought, nerves tingling up and down her spine. _But I didn't…_

"Foaly, it's a trap," she shouted into her helmet mike while sprinting to the center of the cemetery only to find three unconscious fairies.

"Foaly," she said, her voice urgent. "Send a Retrieval Tea-" she was cut of by a sharp pain between her shoulder blades, immediately sending her into unconsciousness before she could finish giving orders.

Even if she had been able to finish, Foaly wouldn't hear her. All he would hear was a voice recording saying that she had caught the criminal and was staying to complete the Ritual. He didn't think anymore of it. And why should he? It wasn't as if she had gotten kidnapped or anything.


	4. Chapter 4: It Should Work

A/N: Okay guys, I am so super sorry! I didn't realize I left you with such a horrible cliff hanger for that long! I'm going to be updating a lot this week-Spring Break, yay! Anyway, here's the story!

**Chapter 4: It **_**Should**_** Work**

Artemis lay with his legs hanging off the end of a gurney in a pale blue hospital robe at the Atlantean Medical Center. Holly had insisted that he have his surgery here, instead of at Haven General.

"Only the best," she had said. Later, when Artemis signed several release forms for the operation, he had found out just how much the fairies loved gold. In fact, he had been tempted to cancel the surgery then and there.

_Oh well,_ he thought, sighing inwardly. _It will give Holly peace of mind to see me well attended to. _Plus, the idea of having an amateur surgeon remove his pituitary gland didn't really appeal to him.

If Opal could become human by putting a gland in her brain, surely, he reasoned, he could reverse the effect by taking his out.

Miraculously, Butler had somehow managed to cram himself into the fairy-sized waiting room.

"Nervous?" he asked, his size accented even more by the tiny medical warlocks around him.

"Yes," Artemis answered, for once completely honest about his feelings with someone other than his wife. "I wish Holly could be here," he said, a small sigh escaping his lips as he finished the sentence.

_How terribly cliché,_ he thought. _Note to self: try to avoid sounding like a cheesy romance novel._

"Don't worry," Butler said, laying a hand on Artemis' shoulder reassuringly. "She'll be back before you wake up."

"I hope so," N°1 said as he walked in with Qwan and Qweffor. "I can't wait for her to see you three feet tall with pointed ears," he finished, snickering. Artemis was not so amused.

"You're sure it will work?" he asked, though he knew the answer. After all, it was his theory.

"Of course it will," Qwan said. "Or at least it should work. There isn't any reason it shouldn't." The last words didn't do much for Artemis' nerves.

"It's a simple procedure," Qweffor, the scientist of the three, said. "We take out your pituitary gland, stopping the flow of HGH to your system, which for some reason prevents magical production in the brain. Apparently no one over four feet is allowed to have sparks shooting out of their hands." He chuckled, then a glare from Artemis reminded him of the situation. "Anyway, after that gland is gone, we will shorten your shins and send you away with a zap of magic before Holly takes you to your first Ritual."

"Nothing is ever that simple," Artemis pointed out. "Especially not brain surgery."

"True," Butler said, "but it _is_ your theory. And you already put down a large, non-refundable deposit. So go to sleep and turn into an elf, Mud Boy."

N°1 stuck a large syringe into Artemis' arm, instantly sending him into unconsciousness.

"That's the last time you can call him that, you know," he said matter-of-factly.

"I know," Butler responded, sighing slightly. "He needs a new nickname."

"What about a 'Qw' name, like the demon warlocks," N°1 suggested, after a moment.

"Maybe," Butler said, smiling broadly. "But wouldn't that insult the demons?"


	5. Chapter 5: Good Guys

**A/N: I'm going to warn you now, Holly wakes up tied to a lot of chairs in this story. It almost gets annoying, but it will end eventually. :D **

**P.S. I almost forgot, you guys are going to hate me for this chapter! Just thinking about it made me cringe! So sorry!**

**Chapter 5: Good Guys**

"W-where am I?" Holly stuttered, opening her eyes to a large room. She was still shackled to a chair, but this was definitely not the one from her dreams. This room was fully lit, and a demented pixie sat across from her a large oak table. They sat on chairs with frames made of antlers, bones, and tusks; only the sturdiest parts of animals, many of which Holly knew were extinct. Opal(for of course it was she) obviously had a part in their extinctions.

The cushions of the grotesque furniture were made of various skins and furs, all sewn together like a quilt. There were zebra stripes and deer hides, and everything in between. The floor was, like the table, solid oak, and covered in some places by rugs of the same material as the chairs. Lining the walls were rows upon rows of cages, each containing a different animal. Trapped. Doomed to suffer in Opal's artificial hell, tortured and starved to death.

Koboi stood up and removed a black, leather whip from its hook on a wall, brandishing it as she moved towards a horse's cage. She struck out at the animal, tearing a deep, red gash into its side.

"You monster!" Holly screamed, hot tears streaming down her face. She hung her head in sorrow, unable to help or watch as Opal continued to beat the poor creature. Only when the desperate whinnies had stopped, only after the cracking of the whip had ceased, did she look up. She wished she hadn't.

"Nice of you to join me," Opal said, smiling sinisterly. "My older self, the one from this time, couldn't make it; she's resting. Breaking out of an underwater maximum security prison takes a lot out of you," she paused, allowing the words to sink in. They hit Holly like a slap across the face. "Foaly is only just hearing about it now and will undoubtedly try to check up on you. Unfortunately, though, the clone will already be in place and soon crushing that human's little heart."

"Clone?" Holly asked weakly.

"Yes. Of you. But unlike Foaly's pathetic empty shells our clone will be controlled by the Present Opal, much like your mother-in-law was nearly three years ago." Opal must have seen the shock on Holly's face, because she said, "Yes, Major _Fowl_, I know all about your little wedding. Watched it on PPTV, actually. But were you really so desperate that you would marry a _human?_" she scoffed mockingly, but Holly only registered the word '_human._'

_Opal doesn't know about the surgery, then,_ Holly thought. _Good. An ace in the hole._

"I know," Opal continued, as if reading her mind, "about his…operation. Now tell me, Major, why not turn him into a fairy _before_ the wedding, hmm? Trying to make yourself an 'honest woman,' Holly?" Opal's smile widened, but Holly was done with her questions; she had a few of her own to ask.

"Enough small talk, Koboi," she ordered, "just tell me how you'll be _attempting_ to rule the world so we can stop you and go home. Again," she said, her voice acid.

"Not this time, Sh…_Fowl_," Opal said the name like it was an unsightly disease. "We're not stupid. We've realized that every time we try to kill you and your friends while taking over the world, it always fails. So this little scheme is just for you, the geeky horse, your human friends, and the smelly midget. You get to be the center of attention this time."

_Lucky us,_ Holly thought, but didn't say. She wasn't that reckless.

"Yes, you are rather lucky, aren't you?" Opal said in an uninterested tone. Had she said it aloud? Holly couldn't be sure. "Now before you begin to think you're crazy, Major, let me answer your question. No, I cannot read your mind. Not all the time, anyway. I can only hear thoughts that are directed at me, so if I were you, I'd watch my tongue…or mind, or…whatever."

"If you were me," Holly countered, unsure of what else to say, "then you wouldn't be crazy."

"And if you were me," Opal said, "that would mean I were you, and married to a human," Opal shuddered as if the idea itself had chilled her. "Disgusting. Especially a human who kidnapped me." The last remark stung as Holly remembered clearly how cruel Artemis could be.

"Go to Hell," she said coldly.

" Of course _I'll _go to Hell," Opal said unexpectedly. She even seemed a bit wounded by the elf's words. "You and your friends, however, will live in eternal happiness. And do you know _why?_ Because you're the good guys and we're the bad guys. No matter what. You could kill me a hundred times over and still go to Heaven. But we kill one pathetic excuse for a commander and are instantly damned!" Holly couldn't believe it. She actually felt _sorry_ for Opal. _For Opal._ Even when she had just insulted her former mentor and the main father figure in her life.

"Opal," she said gently. "Opal, are you afraid to die?" Unable to swallow her pride or admit to weakness, Opal turned and slammed the door behind her, Holly thought she saw a single tear roll down the pixie's cheek.

**A/N: Wasn't that sad? Not the Opal thing, the horse thing. I know, I know, Opal seems OOC, but keep in mind that this is the past Opal, the less experienced, more vulnerable one. Don't worry, she turns back into her cold, evil self. And Holly! Gosh, traitor. Jk! She's my favorite, and I'm not just saying that so she doesn't show up at my house with a Neutrino. **J

**P.S. I don't know about the People's religions, only that they are polytheistic, but they must have some sort of Heaven/Hell thing, so yeah.**


	6. Chptr 6: The First Ritual, The Last Kiss

**A/N: If I still have any fans, I'm back! And terribly sorry about the title of this chapter, but I'm feeling cheesy and I think it fits.**

**Warning: There is more cheese in this chapter, including the title. Sorry.**

**Chapter 6: The First Ritual, The Last Kiss**

"I think he's waking up," Artemis heard a sweet voice say as he blinked his eyes open. As his pupils adjusted to the brightness of the hospital lights, Artemis saw a girl standing over him.

_A beautiful girl,_ he couldn't help thinking, silently cursing his hormones. Then he noticed her ears. _She has pointed ears. What a wonderful, if not strange, hallucination._

A small scaly creature hobbled up and laid one clammy hand on Artemis' forehead. Artemis' eyes clouded over in a red flurry of magic, and a tingling warmth spread down his arms and throughout his body.

"Holly?" he asked, rubbing the remaining sparks from his eyes.

"Who else?" she asked through a smile, and leaned down to kiss him quickly. More quickly than he would have liked.

"How do I look?" he asked, standing up from the hospital bed and reaching just a centimeter taller than her in his elfin body and hugging her.

"Perfect," she said, returning the embrace.

**Somewhere in the Lower Elements, Near the Atlantean Medical Center**

"Perfect," said Opal, trying her best to keep from cringing as she stood, seemingly hugging the air, her eyes completely glowing with blue sparks of magic.

_That's what a girl would say to her post-surgery husband, right?_ she thought, worming her words into the ears of her younger self with a strand of blue magic.

"It'll do," the past Opal said aloud, not bothering with telecommunication. Though she appeared to be watching the monitors connected to the iris cam in Holly's clone's eye, her thoughts were elsewhere.

_I'm not afraid of death…am I?_ she thought, sure to keep the thoughts from her present self. _Of course not. And it doesn't matter anyways,_ she added, for good measure, _I can't die anytime soon because I am standing there in the corner three years from my own time._ She turned her attention back to the plasma screens, finding that the clone had gone outside. Outside and aboveground.

"Where are you going?" she snapped, momentarily breaking the older Opal's concentration and causing the clone to trip.

_To the Ritual Site. Just as we planned,_ she barked back, then sensed her counterpart's tension. _Is something troubling you? You'll get worry lines if you keep frowning like that, you know._

"No," Past Opal said, quickly changing her expression. "Why didn't we just set up an ambush at the Site and wait for the clone to bring him to us so we could kill him then?" she asked. The present Opal rolled her eyes.

_Because, _she thought impatiently, _we want him to suffer. Just as I did, and just as you will. Then he will die. That was the plan. Remember?_

"Of course I remember," the past Opal said, smiling deviously. "How could I forget? And speaking of suffering, I'm going to get the prisoner. I want her to see this."

**Ritual Site 57, Ireland**

Holly/Opal flew with Artemis hanging from her Moonbelt to the place where the couple had first met, or, more accurately, where he had kidnapped her. The full moon shone brightly overhead , setting half of Holly's face aglow and casting the other half into deep shadow.

_Magical,_ Artemis thought, a dreamy smile on his face. _In more ways than one, I suppose. _Holly, however, wasn't so cheery. Her lips were set in a grim line. _Why? _he wondered. _I thought this was exactly what she wanted…_

Any suspicions he had however, were about to be forgotten, as he wouldn't be able to stand, let alone think straight.

"Amazing," he breathed, as they landed and approached the ancient oak.

"You've seen a tree before, haven't you, Artemis?" Holly asked, not quite as intrigued.

"Never through a fairy's eyes," he said, ignoring her tone. He tilted his head back to view the highest branches, and then, as if he were coming out of a trance, Artemis plucked an acorn from the ground and briskly strode away. Holly quickly caught up to him.

"This isn't going to work," she said bleakly, her eyes distant.

"Don't be so pessimistic," he replied cheerily, twining his fingers through hers and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. "I'll be full of magic in no time. And there isn't any reason it shouldn't work, as Qwan would say," he finished, chuckling to himself.

" No, Artemis. I mean us. It isn't going to work." Artemis stopped dead, loosening his grip on her hand to a feeble touch.

"What?" he asked, his face an utter expression of disbelief, and his voice a reflection of it.

"This…it's not right. We shouldn't be together. I shouldn't even know you, much less be _married_ to you." He could only stare at her.

"But…but I, I love you," he said hastily, choking on each broken word as it struggled to be free. "I changed my species for you, I moved underground, I gave up my whole life, Holly. For _you_. How could you do this to me? I love you," he said the last three words with as much conviction as he could muster.

"Because," she said, steadily meeting his gaze, "_I_ don't love _you_." And with that she powered up her wings and flew away, leaving a teary-eyed Artemis kneeling in the dirt.

**Opals' Hideout**

"How could you?" Holly screamed at the two pixies who were one, defeated tears streaming down her cheeks. "You broke his heart…Did you see his face? All because of me…" she was talking to herself now. "Because I didn't kill you when I had the chance!" The two pixies were squealing with hysterical laughter, unable to hold their sick satisfaction back any longer.

"Oh, don't worry, Major," one of them yelled between fits of giggles. "We wouldn't miss that face for the world!" This set off more jovial howls, pushing Holly over the edge.

"I guess you were right," she said, glaring at the past Opal with a deep hatred. "You are going to Hell."


End file.
